1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to networks, and more particularly to social network activity.
2. Description of Related Art
One approach to curtailing objectionable behavior in a social network is to collect feedback from disgruntled users of the social network. A user may report abusive behavior to an operator of the social network after receiving unwelcome activity from other users of the social network. Unfortunately, this approach relies on user feedback which may be slow and sporadic. Some users may stop using the social network rather than being annoyed with unwelcome activity or having to submit complaints. Thus, relying on user feedback may tarnish some users' images of the social network.
Another approach to curtailing objectionable behavior in a social network is monitoring user traffic for potentially undesirable activity. A common monitoring approach focuses on pre-identified words and terms in e-mail addresses, titles, and body text. For example, to identify spam, pre-identified words may include “flowers,” “loan,” and “you have won.” Unfortunately, some of these approaches are not useful tools to curtail objectionable behavior in a social network because they focus only on e-mail and not other peer-to-peer activity in a social network, such as requesting friends.
What is needed is an improved method for curtailing objectionable behavior in a web-based social network, including activities other than e-mail.